Activists propose ideas to make RTE more efficient in Pune

The admission procedure under the 25 per cent reserved seats quota, generally begins in the month of January, every year.

These suggestions have been drafted based on experiences of parents of students who have received admissions under the RTE Act.(Pratham Gokhale/HT File Photo)

With the school admissions around the corner, along with those for the 25 per cent quota seats underRight To Information (RTE) Act, city education activists have proposed a set of suggestions for the efficient functioning of the RTE provisions.

According to the activists, these suggestions have been drafted based on experiences of parents of students who have received admissions under the RTE Act. Some of the suggestions include, special provisions to make corrections in the applications, the right of declining admissions to be allowed to the education officials, instead of heads of the school and to avoid biased discrepancies. A list containing all these suggestions have been drafted by the activists ofthe Akhil Bharatiya Samajwadi Adhyapak Sabha and submitted to thestate director of primary education, Sunil Chauhan.

“The list has been submitted much before the actual schedule for admissions for the next academic year is announced, so that they can be taken into consideration and implemented by the department for that year itself. These suggestions are to ensure that an efficient mechanism for conducting the admissions under the RTE Act, is adopted, so that the act can truly benefit the students in need,” saidSharad Javadekar,Akhil Bharatiya Samajwadi Adhyapak Sabha. The admission procedure under the 25 per cent reserved seats quota, generally begins in the month of January, every year.

He pointed out that a provision to carry forward the vacant seats so that students under RTE quota can take admissions in them, should be maintained. “Often these seats stay empty and then the schools make it available in the open category charging exorbitant fees. This completely betrays the intent of the act,” he said.

Some of the other suggestions, to increase transparency and better the efficiency of the process, include, providing information on religious and language minority schools on admission website and helping parents with proper admission guidance.

“This can be done in the form of a guide book or parent’s manual on the admission process, which the department can produce based on the grievances of the parents. Further, admission help desks to help parents fill up the forms should have trained and sensitive persons,” Javadekar added. The list urges the government to introduce a quick and efficient redressal system.

As per the officials at the office of state director of primary education, the suggestions have been received and are being studied prior to the drafting of the admission schedule.